Even After
by icoele
Summary: [SPOILERS FOR UP TO 3RD TRIAL] This was surreal, to say the least. Where the hell was he, anyways? Mondo had no clue. All he remembered was the cage, and spinning so fast, and Kiyotaka screaming for it to stop... Oh. He was dead. Of course. That would explain the fire everywhere. (T for Mondo's swearing)


This was surreal, to say the least.

Where the hell was he, anyways? Mondo had no clue. All he remembered was the cage, and spinning so fast, and Kiyotaka screaming for it to stop...

Oh. He was dead. Of course.

That would explain the fire everywhere.

He cringed. He hadn't even made it into heaven...? That stung. At first, the realization he'd gone to hell was enough to upset him, but the realization he was never going to see his Kyoudai hurt even more. It was a guarantee the dweeb would go to heaven. Hell, he could even get elected to be an angel if he really tried.

Days felt like years in Hell, Mondo soon found out. It wasn't as bad as he had expected, but around the corner there was someone either trying to beat you up or running away from a gang. There was one unexpected feature as well.

When he wished, he could visit Ishimaru, but it made him feel worse to see the shell Kiyotaka had become. He refused to talk, ad constantly looked like he was staring at an invisible person. Most of the time, he was cooped up in his room, either sobbing his mind out or sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at a cloth.

Was that his coat?

Sure enough, it was. It was covered in bloodstains, probably his own, and some strange yellow substance. Once in a while, Kiyotaka would look over at it. Occasionally, he'd pet it, or smell it, or just hug it tightly. Mondo noticed, though, he never put it on.

After a long cuddle session with the Crazy Diamonds coat, Kiyotaka left the room, to Mondo's relief. It wasn't that he was happy that he's left Mondo's company- Mondo seemed to only be able to visit his and Kiyotaka's rooms- but rather he was happy to see Kiyotaka finally doing something. He waited for over an hour until Kiyotaka finally came back, a big board in his hands and a baggie full of random parts and pieces. It looked a bit different than a normal board game, though...

Oh. He'd gone to Hagakure's room and gotten nothing other than a Ouija board. That nerd.

Mondo laughed to himself quietly, finding it a bit easier to relax now that he was dead, as strange as it was. Kiyotaka sat on the floor, disassembling the board and spreading the pieces out with no rhyme or reason. Mondo suddenly took note of the state of the hall monitor's room- it looked like it could belong to someone like Mondo. Everything was cluttered and papers were everywhere, the bed unmade and a pillow on the ground.

As he surveyed the surroundings, Kiyotaka finally began to speak.

"K-Kyoudai... Oowada-kun... If you are there, p-please, do this with me! I-I got it from Hagakure-san... It's called a... Ouija board, I believe! It is said to be able to let one communicate to th-the departed!"

"I know how a Ouija board works, kyoudai." Mondo muttered to himself, sitting across from Kiyotaka. The black haired boy reached into the bag and got out a notepad and pen, presumably for writing down the letters as Mondo would give him them. He hesitantly placed his shaky fingers on the finder piece and said, "O-Oowada-kun, are you there?" He took a gulp and waited.

Why not give it a try, thought Mondo to himself, leaning in and attempting to move the viewfinder.

He didn't expect it to be so... heavy. It felt like he was trying to push a car, while each of Ishimaru's twitches moved it. He managed to move it about a half an inch before becoming utterly exhausted and letting it rest between YES and NO.

That fact that it had moved was enough for Kiyotaka to spring to his feet. "K-kyoudai-?!" He exclaimed, looking at his own fingers. "Th-that wasn't me... I-I don't think...?" He thought about this for a while and then sat back down, placing his fingers back on the viewfinder. "Kyoudai... If that truly is you... Is... I-Is Fujisaki-kun with you?! Perhaps Enoshima-san, Maizono-san, or Kuwata-kun?!"

Mondo flinched slightly at the question. He hadn't seen them since he'd arrived in Hell, so they presumably made it to Heaven. He prepared himself to move the viewfinder to no, and, surprisingly found it a lot easier. It was as if the realization that he was here had made it easier to move it.

He slid it to no.

"I-I truly cannot believe this is really happening, Kyoudai! It is most strange to be able to commune with you again!" Mondo breathed a sigh of relief. He seemed to be getting back to normal, at least.

"Kyoudai... May I call you Mondo-kun?" He suddenly asked, taking Mondo by surprise. He moved it to "YES" and Kiyotaka's eyes lit up. "Th-thank you, M-Mondo-kun!"

Since his fingers were still on the viewfinder, he decided to try moving it without Kiyotaka asking anything. It worked, apparently, since Kiyotaka let out a surprised gasp."

"N...p..."

"Np? Mondo-kun, what does this mean?" Kiyotaka asked, interested. Mondo snorted.

"N...o...p...r...o...b..."

"Noprob...? No prob...lem? Oh! I get it now! Thank you for explaining, Kyoudai!"

Once again, Mondo moved it to read "np".

"Mondo-kun, by any chance, do you know anything about our current situation? Anything more than we know at the moment?"

"NO"

Kiyotaka looked 1/3 surprised and 2/3 unsurprised. "I-I see..."

"So, Mondo-kun...! How is Heaven?"

Mondo could almost feel the impact of the words hit him. Slowly, he moved the viewfinder.

"H...e...l...l...?!" Kiyotaka practically screamed, and Mondo thanked whoever the fuck he was supposed to thank that the walls were soundproof. "Kyoudai, there's no way you're serious...! My brother could never go to... Hell..."

Surprisingly, there was an option to move it to SORRY, so he did.

"Pl-please, do not apologize, Kyoudai... It's... Fine..."

To Mondo's surprise, he began to pack up the Ouija board, and Mondo jerked on the viewfinder as hard as he could to get his attention. It worked, and Mondo quickly spelled out, "kiyo"

Kiyotaka Ishimaru gulped. "Y-yes?"

"stay strong"

Tears welled in Kiyotaka's eyes, quickly spilling over and turning toe full-fledged sobs. He took his hand from the viewfinder, and when Mondo tried to move it again, it wouldn't budge. Kiyotaka seemed to realize that he had taken his hand off, and placed it back on the viewfinder, thoughts still reeling.

"Kyo-Kyoudai... I-I'm sorry ab-bout taking your c-coat without p-permission... A-are y-you still there...?" He asked, sensing the viewfinder's stability.

Mondo tried as hard as he could, and DAMN was that hard, to move it enough to spell "gtg" and laid back, panting. Even dead it took a hella lot of work to move that thing. Kiyotaka's eyes dulled, as if he came back to realize that Mondo was truly dead, and he lowered his head. His lips began to move, and Mondo had to practically press his ear to Kiyotaka's face to hear what he was saying.

"I-I w-wish... I-I h-had gotten t-to tell him h-how I feel..."

Mondo leaned back, almost giving himself whiplash.

"Kiyotaka... You fucking dork." He murmured, standing to leave. He didn't want to stay any longer, as he felt that it was nearing time for them to go to bed. As indecent as he was, Mondo didn't really want to watch his Kyoudai change into his pajamas. After all, he would probably cry himself to sleep, the poor guy.

Since Mondo was a ghost, he decided that no one could possibly feel his presence, and so he leaned down and ruffled Kiyotaka's hair before planting a light kiss on it. "Sorry, bro... I wish we could've been better friends when I was alive... You've got a pretty nice mouth for kissin' when you're not telling me off for running in the halls." He smiled to himself, taking his leave for the day.

He was utterly confused when he came back to a louder, more obnoxious Kiyotaka who apparently called himself Kiyondo Ishida. Wow. He'd even taken both names and merged them with Mondo's. It was like a bad sitcom, with more insanity. "The hell happened to you, Kiyo?" He asked, knowing Ishi...da couldn't hear him. "It's like you tried to be me... And I think I like ya as yourself better."

Somehow, Mondo was able to follow Ishida around even outside of his room. There were new places unlocked to the remaining students, not unlike after Leon's execution. None of them piqued Ishida or Mondo's interests, so they headed back into the room, when Mondo said goodbye (hoping the actual Ishimaru was somewhere there and could hear him) and left.

When he came back in the morning, he felt very... Off. His muscles tightened and he looked around for Ishida. Nowhere in sight, Mondo desperately tried to open the door- he tumbled through it. "What the...?" He wondered, but soon dismissing the thought to pursue Ishida. "Ding dang dang dong! A body has been found!" Shit, no. No way. No way was that his Ishi-

Suddenly, Mondo felt himself back in the tent he'd fashioned on the outskirts of hell.

He couldn't visit a dead person.

Mondo felt his heart pump faster as he looked through the telescope he'd stolen off someone's 'corpse' at what seemed to be the gateway to heaven. Sure enough, he could spot his dweeb, panicking and confused. Mondo bolted to try to reach him, but felt a chain around his ankle pull him back when he touched the grass strip separating Heaven and Hell. "Kiyotaka!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, waving his arms frantically and shooting his pistol into the side of a building, making a loud cracking noise. It caught Ishimaru's attention and he froze, dumbfounded. "KIYOTAKA ISHIMARU, KYOUDAI!" He probably looked like a puppy who was meeting his mother for the first time, but he didn't care, as Kiyotaka began shoving the newly departed out of the way to try and reach Mondo. "MONDO-KUN?" He yelled, bobbing under the crowd. He resurfaced near the edge of the strip, taking two steps onto it. Mondo would have called out to him that he would get pulled back, but to his surprise, Kiyotaka ran just fine to him, basically tackling him with a hug so forceful it left them both gasping for air. "M-mondo-kun... I missed you...!" Kiyotaka sobbed, burying his face in Mondo's chest.

"You're gxonna need to get used to that, Kiyo. You're destined for Heaven and I'm damned. And I will NOT let you give a life like that up for me."

Kiyotaka went silent. He remained that way before suddenly stepping back, fresh tears on his cheeks. "I-I will return, I promise you!" He shouted, standing on tip toes and kissing Mondo on the lips none too gently. It lasted for what felt like years, and when Kiyotaka finally broke away, he bowed and ran back to waiting in line to enter heaven.

"I will return?" What the fuck was he talking about?

Mondo did not find out for a long time.

One day, long after they'd both died, he'd been knocked out by a thug and taken to some office. It was pretty snazzy, and it looked too nice to be in Hell.

Suddenly, his gaze was met with piercing red eyes.

Familiar red eyes.

It took him about a second to process this and about a second to leap at him and violently kiss him.

Kiyotaka pulled away, want evident under his focused eyes. "Not yet, Mondo-kun. I need to brief you."

"You see, Kyoudai, I began to think, 'Maybe I can convince the big guy to let Mondo become an angel!' And so, since I promised my return, I have been working towards that, and today I finally achieved it!"

"...huh...?"

"Mondo Oowada-kun, you are now a member of Heaven! Make sure to follow the rules!"

Holy. Shit.

"I hope fuckin' you isn't against the rules, cause if it is, I'm goin' straight back to hell." Mondo murmured before kissing Ishimaru's neck.

"And I would be following you, Mondo-kun." Kiyotaka mumbled back, running his hands over Mondo's chest.

"I... I believe I love you."

"You dork, of course you do. I love ya too, Kiyo."


End file.
